All the segments on my commute are marked as hazardous

[birddog]

This may have already been brought up, but I couldn’t find it on the forum.

Why are all the segments on my commute marked as hazardous (http://app.strava.com/activities/75857444)?

I was having fun looking at the leaderboards and challenging myself, but the last couple of mornings I’ve come into work to analyze my effort and have realized that this is happening to almost all the segments on my route.

I can understand why someone would mark them as hazardous – most of them are on the W&OD & Custis trail. But now I’m wondering if I should look for new grounds or somehow complain to Strava about these segments and get them un-marked as hazardous…What should I do?

Topic

[Tim Kelley]

@MRH5028 61595 wrote:

Just got back from a ride on the W&OD, from Cedar to Custis and back. Basically all of the segments along that route have been marked as hazardous, even the ones that have no street crossing or start/end at a street. Kinda odd…

From what I can gather, it sounds like it’s one guy who has chip on his shoulder.

[jabberwocky]

Does strava actually mark segments as hazardous based on a single user submission?

[Tim Kelley]

@jabberwocky 61625 wrote:

Does strava actually mark segments as hazardous based on a single user submission?

Yes. One person can easily remove many segments quickly.

[MRH5028]

@Tim Kelley 61624 wrote:

From what I can gather, it sounds like it’s one guy who has chip on his shoulder.

Kind of what I figured as well. Annoying that one guy can spoil the fun for everybody else. I’ll continue to use Strava to track my mileage, but segments just add a fun element.

[jabberwocky]

@Tim Kelley 61626 wrote:

Yes. One person can easily remove many segments quickly.

That seems like a bit of a design flaw. 😮 I understand having some sort of community based system to flag segments, since Strava does not want that responsibility itself, but just one person complaining seems like a really low bar. Does the account even need to be active, or can some schlub just sign up and start flagging segments en masse without ever even using Strava?

[ShawnoftheDread]

@jabberwocky 61633 wrote:

That seems like a bit of a design flaw. 😮 I understand having some sort of community based system to flag segments, since Strava does not want that responsibility itself, but just one person complaining seems like a really low bar. Does the account even need to be active, or can some schlub just sign up and start flagging segments en masse without ever even using Strava?

I believe the flagger has to have ridden the segment.

[DismalScientist]

Would anyone like to suggest to Strava that even though a segment is marked hazardous that it could still compare the ride to you best performance on that segment? This would at least eliminate the competition with others aspect.

[jabberwocky]

@ShawnoftheDread 61634 wrote:

I believe the flagger has to have ridden the segment.

You are correct.

https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/20959312-Flagging-a-Segment-as-Hazardous

Still, a single user instantly removing a segment seems like a low bar, especially a segment that has existed for a long time and has hundreds (or thousands) of other entries.

[jabberwocky]

@DismalScientist 61641 wrote:

Would anyone like to suggest to Strava that even though a segment is marked hazardous that it could still compare the ride to you best performance on that segment? This would at least eliminate the competition with others aspect.

You can create private segments already that only apply to your rides. I have a few setup on my commute.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DismalScientist 61641 wrote:

Would anyone like to suggest to Strava that even though a segment is marked hazardous that it could still compare the ride to you best performance on that segment? This would at least eliminate the competition with others aspect.

+a billion

[dasgeh]

@jabberwocky 61644 wrote:

Still, a single user instantly removing a segment seems like a low bar, especially a segment that has existed for a long time and has hundreds (or thousands) of other entries.

Agreed. Especially when there’s no reason for it to be hazardous (I’m looking at you “Custis East Lee to Lee” with no grade crossings or other hazards).

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 61650 wrote:

Agreed. Especially when there’s no reason for it to be hazardous (I’m looking at you “Custis East Lee to Lee” with no grade crossings or other hazards).

Strava said the reason given was a “posted speed limit” and the presence of pedestrians.

[consularrider]

@Tim Kelley 61654 wrote:

Strava said the reason given was a “[non-exsistent] posted speed limit” and the presence of pedestrians.

So a bogus reason trumps all?

[Tim Kelley]

I’d encourage anyone who feels strongly about this to email Strava to let them know your thoughts.

https://strava.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new (If you are a Strava member, hit “login” in the upper right hand corner)

[MRH5028]

I think that Strava has too much of a hands off approach for hazardous segments. One of two things needs to happen (or both). 1. If a segment has more than 500 riders and one user marks it hazardous, Strava has to investigate (instead of seemingly automatic system). 2. Turn the power over to the users. If the segment is marked hazardous, the riders of that segment get to adjust and decide then have decision signed off on by Strava.

I know they want to avoid lawsuits from people doing dumb things, so they keep a hands off approach when it comes to flagging. It is slowly worsening the product and not just with hazardous segments, but also duplicate ones.

I’m not a KOM hound (have none) but i like to use Strava as an incentive to do better and see how I rank. If I’m on a segment, and there are people in-front of me or a street crossing or a car, I slow down. Nothing is worth injury to myself or others. It is just for fun after all, but some of that fun is being sucked out of it.

[Author]

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